Day 18: Flying Home and some random suggestions

Flying home? Long, tedious exhausting. I have often said that the day I win the lottery is the day I stop flying economy and move in with the “suits”. Rather than describe the trip home, let me instead mention a random couple of well-known places that you should be sure to see if you visit Israel

The Herodean houses

The Wall Tunnel tour

The above two are justifiably well known and should not be missed. Best seen with a guide in either a group or individual tour. We were totally blown away by the Western Wall Tunnel tour.

Yad Vashem  I already knew a great deal about the Holocaust, but this museum is a powerful statement. 

And then there are some places that are a bit less well known, but which we found worth the visit. In no particular order…

The Bible Lands Museum. If this was in the US some dude would be parading around in a white robe over his Jockey shorts, pretending to be Jesus. Go on, smack him and see if he turns the other check or hires a lawyer to sue you.  Across the street from the Israel museum this is a remarkable collection of archeological artifacts arranged to tell a coherent story. The materials presented and the excellent descriptions make this a must-see.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs Reception Hall.  A neat piece of architectural work – one full wall of the hall consists of onyx stone plates that look like regular Jerusalem stone during the day, but which are actually translucent so that the entire wall is light up at night by the light from inside diffusing through the stone. A very neat sight.

The Conegliano  Synagogue and Nahon Museum of Italian Jewish Art  Jews have lived in the town of Conegliano since the 1600s and erected an elegant synagogue in 1701. After WWII, Italian Jews living in Israel arranged for the synagogue to be disassembled and then reassembled in Jerusalem. The interior of this synagogue is beautiful and adjacent to it is the U. Nahon Museum of Italian Jewish art – with its fine early Purim scrolls and Jewish Art. Right near the touristy Ben Yehuda street, this place is an oasis of calm and beauty.

The Cable Car Museum in the Mount Zion Hotel    You need to ask at the desk how to get there, but this hotel houses a two room museum dedicated to the cable car that ran during the 1948 war of Independence from it (when it was still the St. Johns hospital) to the isolated Mt. Zion area. The car, just big enough for one stretcher was used to move the wounded from Mt Zion to the Yemen Moishe area in the Western part of the city and to move ammunition and supplies to Mt. Zion.  The car was hand cranked across the valley and only operated at night. To escape detection by the soldiers of the Arab League, the cable was lowered to the ground during the day and its presence was kept a military secret until 1972 (i.e. after the 1967 war). 

Day 17: Off the Beaten Track on the way to Ben Gurion Airport

We have a midnight flight out of Ben Gurion, but we have to leave our apartment by 10 AM and there is apparently nowhere to store one’s luggage in this security conscious country.  In the end we decide to rent a car for the day and visit some out-of-the-way places that we would otherwise not get to see. We start out by going to Neve Shalom (Oasis of Peace), a joint Arab-Israeli village 20 km from Jerusalem that is dedicated to peaceful coexistence. They run a variety of programs promoting understanding and peace and operate a joint Hebrew-Arabic bilingual school. They aren’t really set up for the random visitor and this morning they have received news that there has been a deadly confrontation between the aid flotilla to the Gaza and the Israeli navy, so the place is in turmoil as they decide what their response should be. We wander about for a time, see the peace sanctuary and then head back to the road to visit the Latrun Trappist monastery where the monks make a wide variety of fine wines, take a vow of silence and have a beautiful church.

After leaving the monastery we head for Neot Kedumim, a large Biblical Landscape Reserve that has hiking trails through plantings of all the species mentioned in the bible. The path we take has extensive archeological remains of a large village that was occupied from the era of the Second Temple through Byzantine times.  Cisterns, wine and olive presses, mikvahs and a variety of other structures can be seen.  Hebrew and English labels identify the plants along the trail and quotes from the bible provide the biblical context.  After a very hot hour walking the trail we relax in the café drinking iced coffee. Since it is still too early to head for the airport I ask a man at the next table (who trains group leaders of tours of the Reserve) if he could suggest something else of interest in the area. We also chat about the construction of the reserve (it took 25 years of hard work, tons of top soil and careful design to finish it) and he suggests we head to the new city of Modi’im.  “If you have seen the monuments and Jerusalem, you should see Modi’im – an example of a totally new city, built from scratch”. What a great piece of advice! This place is definitely not on the standard tourist itinerary, but it should be. After seeing a lot of rather ugly Israeli cities, the views of this one as we approach it are breathtakingly beautiful.  Construction of Modi’im was begun in 1993 and the entire city was planned by Moshe Safdie, a world-famous architect (digression: his daughter was in a preschool with our daughter, Sarah and no one at the preschool realized who he was when he volunteered to help redesign one of the play rooms!).  Each neighborhood has a distinctive architectural motif  and city has  a golden-white gleam in the afternoon sun. Modi’im has about 60,000 residents and will eventually house as many as 250,000.  I don’t think the accompanying photos do justice to how striking it is. The only thing I noted that seemed to be missing was small shops in the neighborhoods, but perhaps such businesses are facing interior courtyards rather than the busy streets.

Modi'im from distance

                                                     Apartment blocks in Modi'im

Day 16: We Meet a Kindred Soul

Judy Norsigian, our neighbor and one of the founders of the Boston Women’s Health Book Collective (publisher of “Our Bodies, Ourselves”) has put us in touch with Dana Weinberg, the Chairperson and founder of Women and Their Bodies, the Israeli equivalent of the BWHBC, who we meet at the YMCA Three Arches Hotel for morning coffee. Dana explains how hundreds of women volunteers, both Jews and Arabs, have come forward to translate and rewrite where appropriate, Our Bodies, Ourselves into both Hebrew and Arabic versions. This is a major undertaking, requiring extensive rewriting to address cultural differences and the effort necessary to bring the project to a successful conclusion is impressive and much, much more complicated than publishing a book back home.  Dana shares how both Israeli and Arab professional women have come together to collaborate and we share her sense of excitement about the project. I encourage you strongly to check out their website at http://www.wtb.org.il/  and to contribute to their effort. (Roz and I are signing up to be part of their “Social Shareholders” project)

When I mention that we have heard of several young Israelis who have left Jerusalem because of the dominance of the ultra-orthodox, she shakes her head and points out that Jerusalem is the one place where Jews, Christians and Muslims are forced to interact every day and where barriers have a chance of being broken down.

Talking with Dana is another high point for me since her energy and enthusiasm is infectious. I had been reading Haaretz, the English language newspaper, this morning and getting increasingly depressed about some of the things happening here that never make it to the outside media.  I have been here a bit over two weeks, have met many wonderful people with a variety of political viewpoints, and although I understand better the challenges they face both internally and externally, I find myself more conflicted about this country and more doubtful than ever that the policies the current government are pursuing will achieve in the long run the security that everyone desires. The situation here is very complicated and it will take me a long time to process everything I have learned.

After parting from Dana, we catch the #17 bus to the BibleLands Museum (see random musings in final blog) which is a must-see if you are an archeology affficionado like me.  

Day 15: Continued - Abu Ghosh

Danny and Nachama pick us up for dinner, but suggest that instead of going to the Italian restaurant at which we have made reservations, we travel instead out to the Arab village of Abu Ghosh. This prosperous Arab village is famous for remaining neutral during the 1948 Arab-Israel war (and thus essentially supporting Israel) and at 10 km from Jerusalem it is a favorite spot for Jerusalem residents to get excellent Middle Eastern food. However, the history of the place is not quite as simple as generally presented – for even though the villagers lent active support to Israel in the war, in the following years most of the residents were forced into exile by the Israeli military – not once, but twice. Only after protests to the Knesset and a public outcry were they allowed back into their village. An interesting detail which somehow is left out of the tourist information in the guidebooks or the Israeli tourist web sites.

In any case, Danny takes us to the Lebanese Food Restaurant for a wonderful meal of hummus, Lebenah, tahini, falafel, and chicken shishlik. If you have some extra miles on your frequent flyer account using them to get to the Lebanese Food Restaurant is not a bad idea. Finally, on the way back to Jerusalem Danny turns off of Highway 1 to take us down the old road to Jerusalem, through the Motza neighborhood in the Judean Hills at the far western edge of Jerusalem with its wonderful views of the city. We are once again struck by how generous people have been with their time and how eager they are to showcase their country. 

Day 15: Bedouins and Innocents

Everyone tells us we have to drive a hard bargain here, but to be honest we are totally useless at the process. In Hanoi we could tell ourselves that we were just bargaining over 50 cents or a dollar or two, which was ridiculous since that might be meaningful to them but was insignificant to us. Here, the stakes are quite a bit higher, but we are equally incompetent. Roslyn has read about a small shop in the Old City that has particularly excellent Palestinian embroidery.  As we glance tentatively into it, a young man grabs us by the arm, “Please enter, I will introduce you to my uncle”. Now an elderly man wearing a long black robe and a white taqiyah appears from the back of the shop. “Would you like Turkish coffee or mint tea? Don’t worry, you will not buy anything but you will accept my hospitality, I will show you my wares most of which were made by members of my family and we will be like brothers. Sit, sit”. He sends of another relative to fetch the drinks and begins to pull out some absolutely beautiful dresses. He describes how they are made, which of his relatives made them, how they will certainly increase in value and how he is giving us the rock bottom price.  He swears it would dishonor him if he were to charge us a dollar more than their minimum value. Samuel Longhorn Clemens must somehow have seen into the future and had us in mind when he wrote The Innocents Abroad, but his stock is indeed beautiful and I now know exactly how a fly feels when caught in the web. Our bargaining powers are so anemic as to require immediate hospitalization, but we eventually decide that we like the dress, that the price seems reasonable by US standards and we buy it. Of course we are then informed that his cousin has a new jewelry store down the lane and having bought something from him, we will be guaranteed a special low price.

     Up to now all of our interactions have been with secular or religious Jews, but not with any of the ultra-orthodox. Today, we finally have an interaction with one of the multitudes of Hassids here in Jerusalem and it is not exactly pleasant. While in the Old City we are approached by a rather large man in a black coat and hat who thrusts out his hand and demands "shekels!". When I reply no, he presses closer to me and demands in a louder voice "shekels for tzedaka ! (charity)".  Now there is no way I intend to support this dude whose sole occupations in life are to read Torah and produce little versions of himself. When I reply "no" a second time, he really gets aggravated and begins to repeat his demand, but before he finishes, Roz lets him have it with an extremely loud and emphatic "NO!! I suppose being turned down by a mere woman is a major affront to him so he starts to mutter loudly in Hebrew. Since my Hebrew is pretty much limited to "Ani lo medibare Ivrit" (I don't speak Hebrew), I cannot fully appreciate what he is calling me. However, I am struck that perhaps I should open a Yeshiva in Jerusalem since it is clear that the one he has attended has never bothered to teach him that charity that is not freely given is not charity at all, but simple extortion. 

Day 13: Sandstorms and Weddings

We set out for Josh and Diana’s wedding, but a blistering sand storm has blown in from the Negev. I struggle forward through the blinding wind-driven sand, a wet bandana stretched tightly across my face, my right hand pressed against the guiding stone wall to ensure we don’t wander off the path. Here in the Holy Land the dessert is a constant threat, a lethal reality, ready to crush the weak and unprepared.

Well…perhaps I exaggerate a bit, but it definitely is hazy out, no question of that. This afternoon an odd mist has settled over Jerusalem, almost like a low cloud, except that it is not cool or moist. It is indeed not a rain cloud, but a dust cloud so fine you don’t perceive it as dust at all – and it is, I am told the remnants of a distant sand storm. It cuts down the view from the Mount Zion Hotel, but it also renders the city a softness that the hard sunlight does not allow. Plus it keeps the temperatures down to a comfortable  level. The wedding takes place on the various back lawns at the Mount Zion Hotel, which turns out to be a lovely venue with (misty) views across to the Old City.  The wedding is totally delightful and similar to the Jewish weddings I have attended in the U.S with a few differences (1) the bride sits on a special chair to greet her female guests while (2) the men gather to fortify themselves with distilled liquids and usher the groom to his bride where he (3) covers her with a veil and asks her to marry him.  The couple are escorted to the Huppah  where the rabbi recites the marital blessings and then (4) launches into a long monologue, which, being in Hebrew, none of us can disagree with.  After the ring is presented and the Ketuvah is signed by the bride, the groom and various witnesses, (5) seven blessings are recited by various uncles and friends. Finally the glass is stomped on and we can all head for the food.  The hassles of the last few weeks have apparently been resolved, everyone is in place, Diana looks radiant, Josh looks presentable and from this guest’s perspective the wedding is a totally delightful event.

Day 11: Masada, the Dead Sea and Truths and Falsehoods about Israel

Nancy and Gene (Josh’s parents) have outdone themselves (strange term… how does one “outdo” oneself?) by providing for all the visiting guests a guided bus trip to Masada and the Dead Sea. Masada is…. well, Masada. Besides being one of the most dramatic archeological sites I have ever seen, it also has a history that is constantly being reinterpreted. For example, our guide points out its changing role in Israel’s self-narrative  (I’m happy to talk individually with you about this, but as one example,  the army no longer does it swearing-in ceremonies here – only the Engineering Corp, and they only because they were the ones who constructed the access roads to the site).  Again, no reason for me to describe it since you have to see it yourself.

A view of the remains of one of the Roman forts used to besiege Masada

Some Truths and Falsehoods about   Israeli life

1. “Israeli drivers are horrible!”  (F) If you have driven in Massachusetts you have nothing to fear from Israeli’s drivers on the road. Indeed they are better at signaling lane changes and certainly far better about stopping for pedestrians at crossings than Mass. drivers. However, should you find yourself standing in a crowd of Israeli drivers at a falafel stand, then your life is indeed in danger. 

2. “Israeli Food is Horrible” (T/F) We have actually had a couple of good meals here, but when all the Israelis we meet say “well, it’s not as bad as it used to be…” you know that this is not the place to come for a culinary adventure (falafel, hummus and halvah excepted).

3. “Israeli cabdrivers are horrible”  (T) We haven’t taken too many, but from our experience and that of others attending the wedding, I would ask that if any of you know of an honest one, please do send us his name as quickly as possible. The way they take advantage of visitors is shameful (really!).

4. “A Visit to the Dead Sea is A Must” (F) As far as I am concerned the Dead Sea is the aquatic equivalent of Road Kill.  The younger members of our party seemed to enjoy it, but I frankly don’t see the appeal of burning my feet on hot sand, slipping on rocks and staggering around in mud just to immerse myself in warm brine for five minutes. Far better to fill a bathtub with hot chicken soup and splash around in that. 

Day 10: Josh and Diana and the Old City

We have had a night ride through the Old City and an afternoon wandering about on our own and today Josh and Diana will guide us (and other people coming for the wedding) to some of their favorite places in the Old City. One could spend days here (just getting out of the clutches of a young Arab lad who insists on guiding me to the Jaffa Gate) but the places Josh and Diana have chosen are the Tower of David, the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, a great Palestinian sweet shop in the Moslem Quarter that serves wonderful kanafeh, the Ninth Hour Service at the St. James Cathedral in the  Armenian Quarter and the Western Wall. Strict rules accompany attendance at the Ninth Hour Service and two of our party deviate by crossing their legs. However, this infraction incurs only a stern rebuke and does not spark an international incident.  We end the first part of our tour at the Western Wall.

Josh and Diana have already reserved a block of tickets for a night visit to the Western Wall tunnels and this was certainly one of the highlights of our time in the Old City. The guide was excellent and she clearly explained the history of the Second Temple and the relationship both physically and spiritually of the Western Wall to the Temple. (There are, after all, Eastern, Southern and Northern Walls!). One gets to walk the full length of the wall (only 12% of it is actually accessible at the Western Wall Plaza) and see the details of its construction. An amazing tour - this one is an absolute must-see if you visit Jerusalem. 

Day 9: The #13 Bus and Yad VaShem

We generally feel that we haven’t experienced a place until we have struggled with the public transportation system. For some reason that escapes me, the public transportation system in Jerusalem has no useful guide to the bus routes and no bus map. Luckily, private individuals have stepped forward to remedy this deficiency and (finally I am going to give you some useful information!!) if you have Google Earth loaded on your computer, a wonderfully useful interactive bus map can be found at

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=http:%2F%2Fwww.orenstransitpage.com%2Fotpisraelpics%2Fjlembusmap%2Fjerusalembusmap.kmz&ie=UTF8&z=12

(it starts as a default showing all the bus routes and stops so you need to deselect  the day routes box, the night routes box and the stops first and then select the bus routes you are interested in)

We take the 13 bus to Yad VaShem (the Holocaust Memorial). Even though both Roz and I have been steeped in knowledge about the Holocaust since childhood and know many of the details, this is still an overwhelming experience. Since it is described in many guidebooks there is no need for me to repeat their detailed descriptions except to say that we spent four hours there and wish we had been able to stay another two hours. Another of Roz’s cousins, Larry and his wife Gila pick us up and take us to dinner and we spend a very pleasant evening with them.  After dinner they also take us on a quick car tour of the city and even into the edge of the Mea Shearim, the extremely large ultra-orthodox section of Jerusalem. We find the scene there somewhat bizarre, but that is because we are secular U.S. Jews (actually it would be bizarre even were we from the Planet Ork.)

Day 8: Shabbat in Jerusalem

I should start with the standard disclaimer that the views expressed herein reflect only those of the author and may not be congruent with those of the United States of America, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, the City of Newton or my loving spouse.  Also, I take full responsibility for any distortions of opinions expressed to me during my stay here (remember, my motto is “The Truth or Something Better”.) However, I find my response to Jerusalem to be very mixed. The city is beautiful, the layers of history astounding, and the mix of people unique, but the constant presence and power of the ultra-orthodox I find oppressive.  And apparently I am not the only one who regards their control of life in the city with despair. From my conversations with a variety of secular Jews here, it is clear that the demands the ultra-orthodox is a major point of tension.  Indeed the children of one family all left Jerusalem for Tel Aviv, at least in part because they resented the control of the ultra-orthodox over their lives. Others have framed it in economic terms with the general view that the very religious contribute little in terms of economic output for the state of Israel, but consume a very large proportion of state resources. 

Our Shabbat morning is spent exploring the Mayer Museum of Islamic Art  (which, in addition to telling the story of Islam and exhibiting its various artifacts also has one of the best watch and clock collections in the world. A large part of the collection was stolen 25 years ago, but was recovered in 2008 and is now again on display. For the full story, see  http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/nov/05/naaman-diller-israeli-clock-thief

In the afternoon we return to the Old City to wander the streets of Christian area with its narrow lanes  and tiny market stalls. What was empty of life at 11:30 last night is now filled with a mass of humanity and the sounds of a multitude of languages echo down the passageways. We finally find a haven of calm amidst the turmoil in the Austrian hospice café, which has excellent apple strudel.

Day 7: A Night Ride through the Old City

Today we arrived in Jerusalem. Even the most secular Israeli’s we have spoken to refer to Jerusalem with pride and enthusiasm. I have carefully mapped out the route to our rental apartment, but we miss one critical turn. In Jerusalem, missing one turn is not simply a matter of going around the block. When you sin in Jerusalem, you pay for it. My carefully mapped out route dissolves in a series of one-way streets, dead ends, reversals of direction, until finally with the greatest of relief we arrive at 27 Jabotinsky St.  The ONLY thing we wish to do in Jerusalem is to return the car to the rental agency.  Also, not as simple a task as we had hoped, but that is a story for another time.  Jerusalem is indeed a beautiful city. The British were the first to require that all buildings built in the city be faced with a pale rough limestone known as Jerusalem stone and it really lends a special atmosphere to the city. Most of the Israeli cities we have been in are quite ugly with ungainly buildings made of an unattractive concrete and in commercial areas, covered with really ugly signage. Jerusalem is the polar opposite and at least the neighborhoods we have seen are quite lovely.

                                         A house of Jerusalem stone in our neighborhood

We arrive in Jerusalem at noon on Friday just as the city begins its preparations for Shabbat. We buy a few groceries at the store in our building and head up to the famous Mehane Yehuda Market - not to be confused with the more touristy Ben Yehuda Market (also supposed to be quite entertaining). No falafel places or coffee shops at Mehane Yehuda, just a rabbit’s warren of stalls selling fish, flatbreads, spices of every description, olives, dates, halvah, etc.  The fresh fruit vendors in stalls opposite one another shout out the quality of their goods in an effort to drown out the competition. On a Friday afternoon the narrow passageway between the stalls is jammed with humanity of every aspect. Fair-haired Scandinavian tourists are pushed into Hassids with their black coats and hats, a jumble of languages surround one, vendors offer tastes of Halvah and the whole experience becomes total sensory overload.

That evening we are picked up by Danny, a cousin of Roz’s cousin Ethel (who we had lunch with on our first day in country) who, along with Ethel, takes us back to his house in the Ramot neighborhood (across the valley from the Old City) for dinner. Danny is a confirmed Jerusalemite – proud of his city and eager to show it off to us. We are grateful (no, we are VERY grateful) it is Friday evening and there are almost no cars on the road for Danny loves to suddenly stop whenever he sees a particularly wonderful view.  He also convinces a guard to let us park in the middle of the road so we can get a close look at the Palombo gates at the Knesset. These iron gates were created by the sculpture David Palombo who was killed at age 46 when his motorcycle hit a chain stretched across the road by the ultra-orthodox Jews to prevent others from driving on the Sabbath.

We have a wonderful evening with Danny, his wife Nachoma, his brother and sister-in-law and Ethel. At the end of the evening Danny drives us home, once again stopping wherever the spirit moves him to point out the beautiful sights. Finally, he decides we really should get a quick tour of the Old City and to our amazement drives his car through the Jaffe Gate and down the narrow street past the Armenian Quarter. We navigate tiny back streets, through narrow arches and around tight corners. If you have been in the Old City and are familiar with the crowds of teeming humanity the fill every corner, what you will find most amazing is that while we do this (it is 11 PM) there is not a single human being to be seen. We explore a number of narrow passageways, stopping only so to avoid entering the Jewish Quarter since that is forbidden on Shabbat. It is a truly unique introduction to the Old City, which we intend to visit on foot tomorrow. 

Day 6: Rehovot with the Bride and Groom

The reason we have come to Israel is to attend Josh and Diana’s wedding and today we will journey to Rehovot where Diana is a graduate student studying atmospheric physics and Josh is teaching English (he is finishing a PhD in Creative Writing at UCLA). Once again I discover that the truism that “everyone speaks English” is a bit of an exaggeration. On the way from our Bed and Breakfast in Maskaret Batya to Rehovot we stop at a gas station. A young Israeli woman fills up our car, but it is unclear whether she is telling me that I need a bath or that we get a free carwash. I decline both suggestions. Rehovot is a bustling city with a large Russian population and from what I understand a significant fraction of them not only don’t speak English, but also don’t speak Hebrew either.

We have a pleasant afternoon hanging out with the newlyweds-to-be. Josh makes dinner while Roz goes with Diana for a fitting of the wedding dress. But now the tension rises. The tailor has apparently made a mistake in his earlier alterations of the dress and Diana can either breathe or wear the dress, but not do both at the same time.  I am tempted to tell her that no wedding is complete without a crisis, but I restrain myself.

Days 4 and 5: Ma'agen Mikha'el Kibbutz

We planned out trip to Israel with the central idea of “People over Places” – that is, our goal would be to visit with as many distant relatives or near relatives as we could to get a sense of life in Israel rather than trying to see  “the sights”.

Certainly one of our most enjoyable times in Israel so far has been the time we spent at Kibbutz Ma’agen Mikha’el. Located along the Mediterranean, halfway between Netanya and Haifa, this well-known kibbutz is the most prosperous and innovative one in Israel. It is unusual in that it is both agricultural and industrial. The heart of its industrial effort is the plastics company Plasson, which produces a wide variety of specialized industrial and consumer plastics and has spun off subsidiaries in a number of countries. In addition to the high tech products of Plasson, the kibbutz is also active in commercial scale fish farming, dairy farming and a variety of plant crops.

We were the guests of a niece of Lise (the niece of Roz’s cousin’s wife – got that?) and her husband Ofer, one of the kibbutz’s officers. They were incredibly welcoming and we arrived at the kibbutz at a particularly special moment – the afternoon of the holiday of Shavuot. This holiday celebrates the receiving of the torah by Moses on Mount Sinai  and the orthodox honor it with all night study sessions of the Torah. The kibbutz takes a much more secular view (in two evenings and one full day, not a kippah was in evidence), celebrating its various agricultural and industrial achievements over the past year. After a good meal in the communal dining hall with its scenic view of the Mediterranean (other Israeli’s we met were surprised that the kibbutz still had a communal dining hall), we moved outside to sit in a large natural amphitheater,  where the various production managers reported on their accomplishment,  youth of various ages put on dance performances and older members of the kibbutz sang songs. This event was followed by an outdoor wine bar with more entertainment. Both events were for the kibbutz itself and not particularly open to outsiders unless they have some connection to the group, so it was special to be there to share it with them.

The next day, Ofer took us on an extended tour of the facilities, showing us the various fish ponds and telling us about the innovations in fish farming  the kibbutz has pioneered. We also had an interesting tour of the Plasson plastics manufacturing facility and the diary farm. We finally finished our day with a dinner of grilled sea bass (from the farm) with their extended family. One of the most endearing aspects of this kibbutz was the fact that most of the children elect to return to the community after their military service or world travels so extended families are together for holidays and most celebrations. Indeed, this kibbutz is in the midst of constructing new housing to accommodate the children of the community who wish to remain part of it. 

Days 3 and 4: Two Common Lies about Israel

Yesterday we had the quintessential Israeli experience – we got overcharged by a guide in Akko. However, at least he was very knowledgeable and thorough so it wasn’t a total loss. Next time I’ll know to negotiate a time and price clearly beforehand (we innocents abroad are so obvious).  Among many other things, we learned that the ruler who built up Akko in the late 18^th century and who successfully defended the city against Napoleon was Jezzar Pasha. He was also the first practitioner of cosmetic surgery. Except in his case he practiced it by cutting off the nose of anyone who he thought looked more handsome than he did. His nickname was “The Butcher”. We also met a member of the Baha’i faith who was one of the individuals involved in the engineering of the Baha’i gardens in Haifa.

Today we made the drive up to Tsefat (also known as Zefat, Tzfat, Safed, and Safat). This is considered one of the four holy cities of Judaism (the others are Jerusalem, Hebron and Tiberias). There are many small and ancient synagogues in this very religious city. Also many art galleries with very nice work. 

Common (non-political) Lies About Israel

1. “Everyone speaks English”. Yah, sure, everyone speaks English except when you stop to ask directions because you are hopelessly lost. A major Israeli government plan seems to be to post non-English speakers to stand around in obscure neighborhoods where there are no road signs and say “No English”

2. “All the road signs are in English”. This is true as long as you never need to leave a major highway where all the signs are indeed in Hebrew, Arabic and English. But once you exit a major highway you are on your own. My rudimentary Hebrew skills are also not up to the fact that there are several rather obscure (at least to me) Hebrew fonts that they insist on using to confuse the classical Hebrew reader.  My advice, rent the GPS unit (or the astrolabe if you are feeling cheap). We have been proceeding on the basis of  “dead reckoning” (loosely defined as the look my wife gives me when I yell “TURN LEFT” at the last possible moment).

I really have learned a lot in Israel. For example,  I never knew that the first printing press in the entire Ottoman Empire was introduced in Tsefat in 1577. I also  never knew that “Tiberias” is Latin for “city without any useful street signs” 

Day 2:In Which Various Israelis Express their Displeasure with Me

Apparently an interesting cultural activity of Israeli youth is to drive around at various times of the night with their car mega-stereos pounding out an earth-shaking beat. Although I was sufficiently exhausted to awake only once, Roz informs me that this was a repeated activity.  I speculate that perhaps it was part of a geologic experiment by the Weizmann Institute since they certainly were recording the earth tremors of the base notes on seismometers in Rehovot.

After a leisurely breakfast and a quick visit to the City Museum of Haifa we catch a city bus up to the top of Mt. Carmel so we can join a tour of the B’hai Gardens.  The gardens are quite amazing, extending virtually all the way down the mountain in 18 plazas (one for each of the original disciples of Baha’ Allah).  Luckily the tour has us walk only down halfway and so we only have to make it down 700 steps.

On our way back to our hotel we spot a demonstration by the Women in Black. This is an Israeli peace group that has expressed its opposition to the Israeli occupation of the territories  by mounting public vigils on Friday afternoons dressed in black. We decide to join them and spend an hour standing with them on the rotary at the intersection of Hagefen St. and Ben Gurion Avenue holding up signs for an end to the occupation . Since this is a mixed area of Jews and Israeli Arabs, our reception is not as negative as it might be and if their translations of what a few drivers have shouted at us is accurate, Yankee fans in Boston have received much worse from Red Sox stalwarts. In any case, our conversations with them about Israeli politics and other topics are most interesting.

Day 1: Lunch with the Relatives

Our arrival in Israel is uneventful except for the fact that security is clearly understaffed and it takes nearly an hour of standing in line to get to a booth to have our passports checked. I use the term "standing" loosely because actually we spend the time aggressively pushing forward so as to avoid being run over by the Russians trying to shove pass us.  Others in line assure me this is unusual (the waiting, not the Russians).  Arriving in a foreign land is always disequilibrating (particularly after 24 hours without any sleep), but we manage to get our rental car and drive through Tel Aviv to Netanya,. There we have a delightful lunch with Roz’s cousin Sally, who is in her 80s but extremely lively and still folk dancing once a week. We are joined by her son Steven and cousins who are visiting from Toronto (Ethel) and England (Doreen).  Sally’s apartment overlooks Netanya’s beautiful long beach. The Mediterranean looks inviting, but we are both beginning to become catatonic from exhaustion and so complete our drive up to Haifa and our hotel. 

Day 0: The Israeli Character

We haven’t left the US yet, but we are already beginning to experience Israeli culture.  Our Israeli friends have generally describe the Israeli character in a number of terms that I will judiciously summarize as “Assertive”. We have our first concrete example of this at Gate 139 Newark airport.  Our flight to Israel appears to consist of about 60% Israelis heading home, 30%  New York Hasidim and 10% “none of the above”. As it gets closer to our flight time a large crowd of mainly Israelis begins to crowd together at the entrance to the boarding gate. The Continental gate agents begin to request that the crowd move back to allow first class, business class and elite mileage passengers to board the aircraft. Not a single person moves back so much as an inch. “Please” the gate agents begin to plead,  “We won’t be able to board the plane until you move back to allow First Class,  Business Class and Elite  passengers  through (they seem to love repeating all the privileged class ticket categories as though to remind the rest of us that we are traveling steerage and should expect no favors from them).  The crowd stands it ground (are these are all Leninists, thinking if the capitalists need to sit first they will have to force their way past us?). Now the agents are tired of cajoling and have moved into threat phase. “You need to move back; no one will board until you move back”. But these are Israelis and they know how to stand their ground (and they also know that the  fool who steps back is simply sacrificing his chance at getting to an unfilled overhead bin). The threats, demands, pleadings all go on for some time until somehow the First Class, Business Class, Elite Status, and Other Plutocrats have managed to push their way through the belligerent clot of humanity and onto the plane.  It is all very amusing, but then I think about those poor Continental gate agents – they must have to repeat this every day!

Our second glimpse at Jewish culture (not sure if this was an Israeli or a New York Hasid) comes on the plane just before take-off. Everyone has been seated except for one Hasidic  gentleman standing in the aisle just before my seat. He hasn’t said anything to anyone, but he is looking around with a worried frown on his face. He wanders off somewhere and the woman in the center seat of the row ahead of me stands and turns to me. “I don’t think that man will sit next to me, any chance we can change seats?” Ah, the light suddenly dawns – an orthodox Jew sitting next to a strange woman – not good. I’m not eager to give up my aisle seat for a center one, but before I make a decision, another orthodox man has arranged for his wife to change seats with the worried guy. Crises solved.

Israel 2010 Getting Ready

Well, I finally am getting ready to travel to Israel. I had been delaying this trip until the Israelis and the Palestinians finally came to recognize each other’s legitimate grievances and sat down together in good faith to negotiate a fair and just settlement.   Well……  although it might not take a genius to figure the likelihood of that happening, it took a wedding invitation from Josh and Diana to move me from this perfectly reasonable stance and I will soon be heading for Israel.

  
     The key question. Why blog at all? The trip to Viet Nam had me going to a country that was quite foreign to most of us and I thought I might have something  new and of interest to say. But Israel, Israel  has been visited by many of us and I doubted that I would have any great new insight or indeed anything intelligent to add to the public discussion. But then I looked at a number of different travel blogs  and that modest requirement didn’t seem to prevent anyone else from clogging the bandwidth. So, perhaps this will be a very brief blog…

My first dilemma. Which kippah  to take. I don’t do very well with the little knit ones that are so much in fashion these days because I don’t have any hair to clip it to. Sticking a pushpin into my skull doesn’t appeal to me, so that one will stay home. The bright purple one with “Bernie’s Bar Mitzvah” emblazoned across the front seemed a bit too assertive. I will, after all, be wearing one as camouflage more or less, so getting it right seems important. It’s a bit late, but I should have ordered the baseball kippah ($2.95 each) from A1 Skullcap company. Oh well…. maybe I will get one in time for the next Red Sox game. 

What I really was looking for was a line of fine art keppot (Chagall’s window,  Monet’s Giverny  paintings, Picasso’s Guernica (well, maybe not Guernica)). What I have finally decided on is my own Andy Warhol kippah (which looks just like a black velour kippah).

My second dilemma. What to pack? My intention was to travel “light”, but after filling the suitcase last night I realized I would  require two Nepalese porters to accompany me – and that is just for the various pills and medicines I’m taking. This aging business is tough.